Album Review: Lucy And The Rats – “Lucy And The Rats”

One of the faster rising bands to have emerged on the London glam/punk/garage circuit of late, Lucy And The Rats are the latest in a long line of bands who are clearly aiming to carry forward the legacy of imperial phase Blondie, waters which were probably last sailed by the Love Zombies a couple of years back. Indeed, the jangling guitars, and spiky garage rock up-and-at-em attitude here are definitely all promising signs, and you’ll hear echoes of everyone from The Pretenders to The Divinyls.

However, the more I listen to this album, it reminds me less of the sound of West Coast USA circa 1966 or CBGB’s circa 1978 and more of the sound of UK indie clubs circa 1989. Let me explain – way back in the late 80s after the whole C86 indie scene had suffocated under its own tweeness with the onset of Madchester, there were a couple of bands who took the whole jangly aesthetic and added a bit of spikiness to it to good effect and chart success such as The Darling Buds and The Primitives, and it’s these bands (especially the latter) that Lucy And The Rats remind me the most of.

It’s not a bad sound either, as evidenced by the tuneful likes of Pills and Lose My Mind, even if it does get a little bit samey as the album goes on. However, the melodic “hands off” warning of Girl and the Barracudas soundalike Can’t Surf sign this one off well. A promising first effort from Lucy And The Rats and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Final Thoughts

A good mix of garage rock aesthetic and pop sensibilities, Lucy And The Rats definitely fall into the category of ones to watch. This debut effort is only slightly brought down by the fact that they do repeat themselves a bit on side two, but that's okay, it is a debut album after all. If they can build on the good parts here, then this band could definitely have a bright future ahead of them.

About The Author

Yorkshire born, Yorkshire bred, now living in exile in Hertfordshire. One time rock 'n' roll hellraiser now living a slightly quieter life but still trying to get out to see decent rock 'n' roll and listen to awesome new bands whenever the opportunity presents itself. Lives to take the rip, dies from retaliation...